Systems and methods for fracture mapping via frequency-changing integrated chips

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for fracture mapping may utilize frequency changing to aid in providing high-resolution mapping. Integrated chips may be injected into a well and dispersed into a formation. A downhole tool that provides a transmitter and receiver may be positioned in the well. The transmitter may transmit electromagnetic (EM) signals into the formation. The dispersed integrated chips may receive the transmitted EM signal and return a frequency-changed signal to the receiver of the downhole tool. Utilizing the returned frequency changed signal, the system is able to determine the locations of the integrated chips that have been dispersed into the formation and provide fracture mapping. In another variation, the integrated chips may communicate with each other to provide fracture mapping.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. application Ser.No. 15/302,120, filed on Oct. 5, 2016, which is a U.S. national stageapplication of International Patent Application No. PCT/US2015/018878,filed on Mar. 5, 2015, which claims the benefit of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application No. 61/948,155, filed on Mar. 5, 2014, and U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/979,187, filed on Apr. 14, 2014.The entirety of each of the aforementioned applications is incorporatedherein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to systems and methods for fracture mapping viafrequency-changing integrated chips.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

In the past, many have proposed using nanoparticles as contrast agentsto illuminate a reservoir or a hydraulic fracture. Some have proposedusing nanoparticles to increase the conductivity of a reservoir. Othershave proposed using magnetic nanoparticles to enhance magneticpermeability of the reservoir and change the velocity of electromagneticwaves propagated in the reservoir. Additionally, some have proposedusing nanoparticles to change the electrical permittivity of thereservoir.

All of the proposed methods discussed above change only the phase oramplitude of the electromagnetic waves. None of these methods change thefrequency of the electromagnetic waves. This is a major factor thatlimits the effectiveness of these methods. This is because the reflectedelectromagnetic waves from the rest of the formation overlap with theelectromagnetic waves reflected from parts of the reservoir filled withnanoparticles in both time (due to limited bandwidth) and frequency.This significantly limits the sensitivity of the receiver, due to theinterference caused by strong echoes reflected from the rest of theformation, boundaries of the horizontal-well, metallic objects(equipment) used in hydraulic fracturing, and/or the direct-couplingbetween the transmitter and receiver in the main transceiver. Theproblem is illustrated in the example shown in FIGS. 1a-1b . As shown inFIG. 1b , a transmitter may send a signal to proppants located in aformation, and the reflected signal may be received by a receiver.However, the receiver may also receive echo signals reflected from theformation and a direct coupling signal from the transmitter. As shown inFIG. 1a , the overlap between electromagnetic waves from direct couplingand reflected from the formation result in significant interference tothe reflected signal, thereby making it difficult to accurately receiveand detect the small fractures waves. As a result, it is difficult tomap the proppants for fracture mapping utilizing the above notedmethods.

This problem is similar to the problem of clutter in radar. Clutter isessentially the strong echoes reflected from undesired stationaryobjects (e.g. ground or background material) that overlap with signalsreflected from a desired small, stationary object. This issue isresolved in Doppler radar, because the signals reflected from a movingobject differ in frequency from signals reflected from stationaryobjects. Due to the frequency-change, these two signals can be separatedin the frequency domain.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one embodiment, a system for fracture mapping may utilize frequencychanging. Integrated chips may be injected into a well and dispersedinto a formation. One or more downhole tool(s) may provide a magneticfield generator, transmitter, and/or receiver that may be positioned inthe well. The magnetic field generator may generate a magnetic field,and the transmitter may transmit electromagnetic (EM) signal(s) into theformation. One or more of the dispersed integrated chips may receive thetransmitted EM signal and detect the generated magnetic field. Thesechip(s) may transmit a frequency changed signal that is a function ofthe detected magnetic field to the receiver of the downhole tool.Utilizing the returned frequency changed signal, the system is able todetermine the locations of one or more of the integrated chips that havebeen dispersed into the formation and provide fracture mapping. Inaddition to fracture mapping, various properties of the reservoir suchas local DC or AC magnetic field, local DC or AC electric field, localelectrical permittivity, local magnetic permeability, temperature,pressure, pH, local NMR spectrum, local ESR spectrum, local florescenceresponse, local porosity, local permeability, or concentration ofasphaltenes or scale can be measured using the dispersed integratedchips. The measured data may be transferred to the down-hole toolthrough electromagnetic waves.

In another embodiment, a system for fracture mapping may utilizetime-domain methods. Integrated chips may be injected into a well anddispersed into a formation. These chips may communicate with each othervia directionally modulated signals, such as by transmitting a firstdirectionally modulated signal from a first chip to a second chip andreturning a second directionally modulated signal back from the secondchip to the first chip after the first directionally modulated signal isreceived. A time difference, between transmittal of the firstdirectionally modulated signal to receipt of the returned seconddirectionally modulated signal, may be utilized to determine a distancebetween the first and second chip. This process may be repeated withthird chip to triangulate a position of the second chip relative thefirst and third chip. Further, this process may be repeated by variouschips injected into the formation to provide fracture mapping.

The foregoing has outlined rather broadly various features of thepresent disclosure in order that the detailed description that followsmay be better understood. Additional features and advantages of thedisclosure will be described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, and theadvantages thereof, reference is now made to the following descriptionsto be taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings describingspecific embodiments of the disclosure, wherein:

FIGS. 1a-1b show non-frequency-changing fracture mapping methods (orpassive methods);

FIG. 2 is an illustrative embodiment of a frequency-changing system forfracture mapping;

FIGS. 3a-3d show received signals in a frequency-changing method and anillustrative embodiment of chip-based frequency-changing methods (oractive methods);

FIG. 4 is an illustrative embodiment of a chip-based frequency-changingmethod;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative embodiment master-slave chips utilized toperform fracture mapping;

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative embodiment a block diagram for a delayline;

FIG. 7 shows an illustrative embodiment of a transmission line-varactorelements;

FIGS. 8a-8b illustrate the concept of directional modulation;

FIGS. 9a-9c shows a zero crossing isolator;

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative embodiment of determining a location of achip in 3D space;

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative embodiment of fracture mapping with amulti-step process;

FIG. 12 shows received voltage on a dipole as a function of frequencyfor different values of ε″_(eff);

FIGS. 13a-13b shows the results of a simulation demonstrating a spotsize of 10 cm×10 cm;

FIGS. 14a-14b shows an experimental setup for a LOS system; and

FIGS. 15a-15b shows measured results for a LOS system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Refer now to the drawings wherein depicted elements are not necessarilyshown to scale and wherein like or similar elements are designated bythe same reference numeral through the several views.

Referring to the drawings in general, it will be understood that theillustrations are for the purpose of describing particularimplementations of the disclosure and are not intended to be limitingthereto. While most of the terms used herein will be recognizable tothose of ordinary skill in the art, it should be understood that whennot explicitly defined, terms should be interpreted as adopting ameaning presently accepted by those of ordinary skill in the art.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only,and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. In thisapplication, the use of the singular includes the plural, the word “a”or “an” means “at least one”, and the use of “or” means “and/or”, unlessspecifically stated otherwise. Furthermore, the use of the term“including”, as well as other forms, such as “includes” and “included”,is not limiting. Also, terms such as “element” or “component” encompassboth elements or components comprising one unit and elements orcomponents that comprise more than one unit unless specifically statedotherwise.

Systems and methods for fracture mapping via frequency-changingintegrated chips are discussed herein. In some embodiments,high-resolution mapping of hydraulic fractures may be achieved byutilizing integrated chips as active proppants. Similar to conventionalproppants, integrated chips can be mixed with fluid and sent to ahydraulic fracture. However, in contrast to conventional proppants,these integrated chips may receive and/or transmit signals to providefracture mapping. In some embodiments, a main transceiver located at thewell (e.g. such as in a downhole tool) can be used to communicate withthe integrated chips inside the fracture via electromagnetic waves. Theintegrated chips can receive an electromagnetic signal from the maintransceiver, amplify the received signal, change the received signal'sfrequency, and reflect it back to the main transceiver. In someembodiments, the main transceiver may detect a change in frequency fromthe transmitted signal to the received signal reflected by theintegrated chips back to the main transceiver. In some embodiments, thischange in frequency may be a function of the local DC magnetic field orother low-frequency magnetic signals detected by the integrated chip. Insome embodiments, low-frequency magnetic signals may have a frequencyequal to or between 1 mHz to 100 KHz. In some embodiments, afrequency-changed signal may contain at least one changed frequency or arange of frequencies, such as, but not limited to, both the originalfrequency and new frequencies. As discussed herein, a frequency-changedsignal, frequency changer, or the like refer to changing the frequencyof a signal to be different from the original signal received. Forexample, nonlimiting examples include frequency-shifting, frequencymodulation, harmonic generation, sub-harmonic generation, or the like.In the exemplary examples discussed further herein, the examples offrequency-changed signals may specifically discuss frequency shifting.However, in other embodiments, any suitably frequency changing can besubstituted. A gradient of the magnetic field can be used to tag theintegrated chips and increase the resolution of the image. Due tofrequency-changes in electromagnetic signals, signals emitted fromintegrated chips can be separated from strong echoes reflected from restof the formation, thereby avoiding or minimizing interference. As aresult even weak signals are detected by the main transceiver. In someembodiments, the main transceiver may perform multiple measurementsalong a wellbore in order to extract the location data from theintegrated chips and map the geometry of the fracture.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative embodiment of a frequency-changing system forfracture mapping. In the formation, several integrated chips 100 aredispersed into fractures. For example, the integrated chip 100 may bedispersed into fractures after mixing with a fluid and injection intothe formation. The integrated chips 100 may receive electromagneticsignals transmitted by downhole tools and provide a return signal to thetools. However, a portion of the signal transmitted by the downholetools may be reflected back by the formation, which may interfere withthe return signals received by the downhole tools. In thefrequency-changing system discussed further herein, integrated chips 100may alter the frequency of the signal f₀ received to avoid thisinterference. Nonlimiting examples may include, but are not limited to,frequency doubling and/or modulation of the frequency change utilizingparameters, such as local DC or AC magnetic field, local DC or ACelectric field, local electrical permittivity, local magneticpermeability, temperature, pressure, pH, local NMR spectrum, local ESRspectrum, local florescence response, porosity, permeability,concentration of asphaltenes or scale, and/or any other properties ofthe formation. In some embodiments, amplitude and/or phase modulation ofthe frequency-changed signal may also be performed utilizing parameters,such as local DC or AC magnetic field, local DC or AC electric field,local electrical permittivity, local magnetic permeability, temperature,pressure, pH, local NMR spectrum, local ESR spectrum, local florescenceresponse, porosity, permeability, concentration of asphaltenes or scale,and/or any other properties of the formation. Based on the returnedsignals received by the downhole tools, the coordinates of theintegrated chips 100 can be determined and utilized to map the formationand fractures, as well as the downhole conditions detected by the chip.

FIG. 2 also shows an illustrative example of an integrate chip 100 thatprovides the frequency changing capabilities. The integrated chip 100injected with fluid into a formation to be utilized as a proppant whenfracture mapping is desired. In some embodiments, the integrated chip100 may be coated or incorporated within a suitable proppant material toprevent damage to the chip. The integrated chip 100 may include aprocessor 105, memory 110, energy-harvesting circuit 115, power source120, baseband circuits, ADC and DAC, magnetic sensor 125, a voltagecontrolled oscillator 130, mixer or frequency synthesizer 135, sensor(s)140, modulator 145, and/or receiver 150/transmitter 155. The processor105 may control operation of the various components of the integratedchip 100. Memory 110 may store gathered data, software, firmware, or thelike. In some embodiments, an energy-harvesting circuit 115 may beprovided to generate energy. Power source 120, such as a battery,capacitor or the like, provides power to the various components of theintegrated circuit 100. Baseband circuits may amplify and filterlow-frequency signals (after down-conversion to baseband from RF (in thereceiver) or before up-conversion to RF from baseband (in thetransmitter)). ADC and DAC (not shown) may convert received/transmittedsignals from analog to digital or vice versa. Magnetic sensor 125 maydetect magnetic fields near the integrated chip 100, such as local DC orlow-frequency AC magnetic fields. The magnetic sensor 130 is coupled toa VCO 130, which creates a VCO signal f(z) in accordance with thedetected magnetic field B₀. For example, the magnetic sensor 130 mayoutput a voltage correlating to the detected magnetic field B₀, and theVCO 130 may utilize this voltage to generate a VCO signal f(z) with aproportional frequency.

A mixer 135 may create a frequency-changed signal that is based on areceived signal f₀ and the VCO signal f(z). For example, a change in thefrequency of the received signal may be a function of a detectedmagnetic field. The integrated chip 100 may provide one or more sensors140 to detect conditions in the formation, such as, optical, infrared,ultrasound and/or MEMS sensors or the like (for detecting porosity,permeability, local DC or AC magnetic field, local DC or AC electricfield, local electrical permittivity, local magnetic permeability,temperature, pressure, pH, local NMR spectrum, local ESR spectrum, localflorescence response, or concentration of asphaltenes or scale). Datafrom the sensor(s) 140 and the frequency-changed signal may be providedto modulator 145 that may modulate the amplitude and/or frequency andprovide a transmitted signal. It is also possible to sense multipleparameters using a combination of frequency-change, amplitudemodulation, and/or phase modulations. For example, the local magneticfield can be utilized to set the amount of the frequency change, localporosity measurements can be utilized to modulate the amplitude of thefrequency-changed signal, and/or local permeability measurements can beutilized to modulate the phase of the frequency-changed signal. Thereceiver 165 and transmitter 170 respectively receive and transmitsignals. In particular, the receiver 165 may receive a received signalf₀ and transmitter may transmit the frequency-changed signal from/to anexternal device.

Additionally, separately from the integrated chip 100, a magnetic fieldgenerator 160, transmitter 165, and receiver 170 may be provided by onemore downhole tools. In some embodiments, these tools may be positionedin a wellbore. As discussed previously, the transmitter 165 may generatea signal utilized for the fracture mapping, such as an electromagneticsignal f₀. Further, the magnetic field generator 160 may generate DC orlow-frequency AC magnetic fields, which may be detected by nearbyintegrated chips 100. The nearby integrated chips 100 receive thetransmitted signal f₀, and detect the magnetic field B₀, which isutilized to generate a frequency-change to be transmitted by the chip tothe tool. The receiver 170 may receive a frequency-changed signal fromone or more integrated chips 100. Based on the returnedfrequency-changed signals received from one or more integrated chips100, the coordinates of each of the chips can be determined and utilizedto map the formation and fractures. Further, the amplitude and/or phaseof the received frequency-changed signal may also allow additional dataon well conditions to be received by the tools. In some embodiments, thedownhole tool may be connected or coupled to a device provided at thesurface that analyzes and/or records data gather by the downhole tools.

From the discussion above, it is clear that these active integratedchips can receive an electromagnetic wave, amplify it, change itsfrequency, add phase/amplitude modulation to the frequency-changedsignal, and/or reflect it to a main transceiver of the downhole toollocated in the wellbore. Due to the frequency-changing, weak signalsemitted from integrated chips can be separated from strong echoesreflected from rest of the formation that would otherwise make itdifficult to do so. FIGS. 3a-3c is an illustrative example of utilizingthe frequency-changing integrated chips, which may be characterized asan active method. As shown in FIGS. 3c-3d , a transmitter and receiverof the downhole tool provided in a well may transmit and receiveelectromagnetic signals. As shown, the transmitter may transmitelectromagnetic waves into a formation where the integrated chips aredistributed. The integrated chips may receive the transmitted signalfrom the tool and return a frequency-changed signal back to the tool. Insome embodiments, the frequency-changed signal may be frequency-changedas a function of a position of the integrated chip relative to the tool.For example, the frequency-changed signal may be frequency-changed as afunction of a magnetic field detected by the integrated, which wasgenerated by the tool. As a nonlimiting example, the frequency of thereturned or frequency-changed signal from the integrated chips may bedoubled in accordance with the strength of the magnetic field detectedby the chip and sent back to the tool receiver (it will be recognized byone of ordinary skill in the art that this discussion of frequencydoubling is provided nonlimiting illustrative purposes only). However,the tool receiver may also receive a signal resulting from directcoupling between the tool transmitter and receiver. Further, the toolreceiver may additionally receive a signal resulting from echoes of thetransmitted signal may be reflected from the rest of the formation aswell. As shown in FIG. 3a , receiving the various signals from the chip,direct coupling, and/or echoes may make create interference or make itdifficult for the tool receiver to recognize the signal from the chip.

However, because of the frequency change from the integrated chips, theechoes from the formation do not interfere with the received signalsfrom the integrated chips as shown in FIG. 3b . Any suitablefrequency-changing may be utilized. Various different parameters can beused to modulate the frequency change. These parameters include, but arenot limited to, 1) local DC or AC magnetic field, 2) local DC or ACelectric field, 3) local electrical permittivity, 4) local magneticpermeability, 5) temperature, 6) pressure, 7) pH, 8) local NMR spectrum,9) local ESR spectrum, 10) local florescence response, 11) porosity, 12)permeability, 13) concentration of asphaltenes or scale, and otherproperties of the reservoir that may be desirable to measure.

In some embodiments, active integrated chips can also amplify receivedsignals and retransmit it to other chips acting as a relay to extend theeffective penetration depth.

One challenge is measuring the location of a chip in a fracture. Due tohigh propagation-loss in the formation, the signal received from a chiplocated 100 m deep in the formation will be orders of magnitude weakerthan the signal received from a chip located 1 m deep in the formation.Due to this issue, techniques that rely on measurement of the round-triptravel time or phase of the RF signal would not be effective. This isbecause signals received from a close chip (1 m distance) and a distantchip (100 m distance) overlap in both frequency and time, but a signalof the closer chip will be orders of magnitude stronger. In order toseparate the signal of the distant chip from the signal of the closechip, they must be separated in either time or frequency domains. Due tothe high-propagation loss of the formation, it is very difficult toseparate signals of two chips in the time-domain. Separating signals intime-domain requires transmission of high-bandwidth ultra-short pulses,which is not feasible, due to the high propagation loss of the formationat high frequencies. These high propagation losses at high frequenciesput limits on the bandwidth of the signal.

In some embodiments, this problem is resolved by the fracture mappingsystem discussed herein by separating the signals of various chips inthe frequency domain. FIG. 4 is an illustrative example of components ofintegrated chips separating signals in the frequency domain. Atransmitter 410 of a downhole tool may transmit a signal f₀ to theformation. First and second integrated chips 420 and 430 may be locatedin fractures in the formation. Integrated chips 420 and 430 located atdifferent Z coordinates, particularly at Z₁ and Z₂ respectively.Further, the integrated chips 420 and 430 may experience a differentmagnetic field or B(Z₁) and B(Z₂) respectively. Each of the integratedchips 420 and 430 may sense the local magnetic field and convert it tovoltage as discussed previously. For example, chip 430 senses themagnetic field B(Z₂) and converts it to a voltage. This voltage isapplied to a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) to generate a signalwith a frequency f₂=g(B(z₂)) that is proportional to the output voltageof its magnetic sensor. Other integrated chips in the formation mayperform the same process, such as chip 420 utilizing a detected magneticfield B(Z₁) and VCO to generate a signal with a frequency f₁=g(B(z₁)).In some embodiments, g can be a nonlinear function. A receiver 440,which may be positioned in the wellbore near the transmitter 410,detects the signals f₁ and f₂ radiated from chips 420 and chip 430respectively. These signals from the two chips 420 and 430 differ infrequency because of the difference in the detected magnetic fields atcoordinates Z₁ and Z₂. Based on this difference in the detected magneticfields, the frequency-changed signals f₁ and f₂ are generated withdifferent frequencies in accordance with the function g. Based on thedifference in frequency, the receiver 440 can determine the Z-coordinateof each chip 420 and 430. While not shown, in some embodiments, themagnetic field can be generated by a source in the well. This magneticfield can be a DC field or a low-frequency AC (e.g. 0.001 Hz to 1 MHz).

The transmitter may operate in any suitable frequency and time-domain.In some embodiments, the frequency may be chosen based on attenuationand/or propagation loss of electromagnetic waves in shale.

In some embodiments, the integrated circuits may includeenergy-harvesting circuits. In other embodiments, the integratedcircuits may only utilize a power source or may utilize the power sourcein conjunction with an energy-harvesting circuit, such as batteries. Theintegrated chips may be suitable for high pressure and/or hightemperature conditions in a well.

X, Y, and Z coordinates are discussed further below. These orientationof these coordinates are shown in FIG. 4, with X shown as the axisparallel to the well. The discussion above proposes a method fordetecting the Z-coordinate of a single chip by applying a gradient of aDC or low-frequency AC (0.001 Hz to 1 MHz) magnetic field to theformation and generating a frequency-changed signal that is a functionof a detected magnetic field. The gradient in the X direction can beused to map the locations of the chips in the z-direction. In order todetect the X and Y coordinated of the magnetic field, it is possible toapply a gradient of the magnetic field in the X or Y directions and usea procedure similar to the inverse image reconstruction in MagneticResonance Imaging (described in Haacke et al., “Magnetic ResonanceImaging”, John Wiley and Sons, 1999, which is incorporated herein byreference). As a nonlimiting example, for X and Y coordinates, the maintransceiver can be moved along the well and to perform multiplemeasurements to calculate the 3D location of the chips. Alternatively,magnetic gradient in X or Y directions can be used to map the locationof the chips in those directions.

As an alternative method, array processing can be used to detect the Xand Y-coordinates of a chip. There are two ways for forming an array tobuild an image:

1) in a first method, multiple transmitters and receivers can be placedin different positions in the wellbore. The multiple receivers andtransmitters can effectively form a 1-D or a 2D array. Phase-changingamong the elements of the array can be used to effectively focus thepower onto a small spot within the reservoir and/or perform beamsteering to the desired location of the spot in X, Y, and Z directions.Utilizing the small spot in conjunction with the chips in the mannerdiscussed above, the fractures of a formation may be mapped.2) in a second method, a single transmitter and a receiver is used.Multiple measurements can be performed while moving the main transmitterand the receiver along different positions in the wellbore as well asrotating them around the axis of the wellbore, thereby simulating asynthetic array of transmitters/receivers. The multiple measurementsdescribed above can effectively form a virtual 1-D or a 2D array.Post-processing the collected data from multiple measurements(performing phase-changing) can result in focusing on different chips inthe reservoir. This can be used to generate a single pixel. Thisprocedure can be repeated to steer the position of the focused point andbuild an image of the reservoir (or map a fracture).A Sensor Network for Localization

In some embodiments, a method for measuring the location of chips in ageological structure may include the following steps:

-   -   providing a dispersion of chips in a fluid, wherein each of the        chip provides a receiver and transmitter;    -   injecting the dispersion of chips into a geological structure;    -   placing at least one main transceiver in proximity to the        geological structure;    -   generating an electromagnetic field in the geological structure        with the at least one main transceiver;    -   detecting an electromagnetic signal with at least one chip;    -   building wireless links between the at least one main        transceiver and the chips in the geological structure;    -   using the wireless links to localize the location of the chips        relative to each other; and    -   using the wireless link to localize the location of the chips        relative to the main transceiver.        In some embodiments, a large number of chips are utilized to        building a wireless sensor network. The geometry of the        geological structure may be mapped by localizing the 3D        coordinates of the chips dispersed into the geological        structure. In some embodiments, a wireless link may be utilized        to transfer energy/power to chips. In other embodiment, a        battery may be added to each chip to provide power.

In some embodiments, a network of master-slave nodes is utilized toperform fracture mapping. As shown in FIG. 5, a master chip 500 radiatesa signal to a slave chip 510 using directional modulation. In someembodiments, the signal may be a line of sight (LOS) signal. Forpurposes of illustration, the following discussion provides discussionof LOS signals; however, in other embodiments, a LOS signal is notrequired. The LOS signal is in a form of an amplitude modulated impulsetrain (The waveform shown is a nonlimiting example shown only forillustrative purposes). Each impulse-radiating chip 500 and 510 maycontains an array (e.g. 4×4) of on-chip antennas 520, digitally tunabledelay line(s) 530, circuitry for amplitude modulation or impulsegenerators 540, and switching circuit(s). On-chip antennas 520 areutilized to send and/or receive signals, and delay lines 530 andamplitude modulators 540 may be utilized to provide directionalmodulation. The reference 570 is an accurate clock (or oscillator) thatkeeps the timing.

The slave chip 510 uses a waveform-sensitive receiver 550 to detect theLOS signal from the master chip 500, apply proper phase-shift with aphase shifter 560, and generate a reference clock. After receiving theLOS signal, the slave chip radiates a LOS signal back to a master chipusing the directional modulation. The output 580 may be utilized toprovide data gathered by the master chip 500 to the transceiver, such asone provided by the downhole tool. The master chip receives the slaveLOS signal and estimates its distance from the slave chip. In contrastto the prior frequency-changing methods, a time difference is utilizedto determine distance.

Because a single distance measurement cannot be used to find thelocation of an object within a 3D space, the master chip or node canpotentially use multiple, N₁≥3, widely spaced chips (master chips) toperform localization (FIG. 10) as discussed previously above. Inaddition, this information can be used to find the orientation of anobject within a 3D space.

Master Chip—

It will be apparent from discussion herein that the master and slavechips have similar arrangements. This is because the master chip mayeventually become a slave chip at a latter stage of building thewireless network of chips. As a nonlimiting example of a master chipdiscussed further herein, a chip is composed of a transmitter with theability to radiate direction-dependent impulses with duration of shorterthan 1 μsec.

Slave Chip—

A nonlimiting example of a slave chip uses a waveform-sensitive receiverto identify LOS signals and separate them from NLOS signals. Thereceiver of the slave chip generates a trigger signal after detecting aLOS signal from the master node. This trigger signal is used to excitean impulse-radiating transmitter on the slave chip. The impulse radiatoruses an architecture similar to the one used in the master chip toradiate a direction-dependent amplitude-modulated impulse train back tothe master chip. The target EIRP of the slave chip is 1.3 W.

A Digitally Tunable Delay Line—

As a nonlimiting example, a programmable digital line with a resolutionstep of 250 fsec and a dynamic range of 150 psec was designed andtested. This circuit, which occupies an area of 2×0.5 mm², wasfabricated in IBM's SOI 45 nm process technology. The chip contains adelay line with physical length of 6 mm. The line is separated intoseveral sections; each section is buffered to compensate the loss. Delayis controlled by a varactor circuit, which includes two types ofMOS-varactor elements. Several 8-bit Digital to Analog Converters (DAC)were used to tune the control voltage of varactors. The block diagram ofthis system is shown in FIG. 6. The “6 elements” box shown in FIG. 6 isa cascaded combination of six transmission line-varactor elements, whichis shown in FIG. 7.

The transmission line used in FIG. 7 was designed and simulated in IE3D.Buffers are included in the design to compensate the loss oftransmission lines and varactor circuits. The jitter of the delaygenerator is 900 fsec when no averaging is used. The jitter becomessmaller than 100 fsec when 16× averaging is used.

Direction-Dependent Signal Modulation (Directional Modulation)—

One of the key challenges in precision localization and time transfer isseparating line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) signals.NLOS signals increase the timing error by adding jitter. In recent work,we used directional modulation to resolve this issue. In this method, adesired time-domain signal, S_(orig)(t), is divided to two (or more)parts, S₁(t) and S₂(t). Then, widely spaced coherent transmitters TX₁and TX₂ are used to radiate signals S₁(t) and S₂(t), respectively.Assuming a separation of D between TX₁ and TX₂, the signal received indifferent angles is S₁(t−τ₁)+S₂(t−τ₂), where τ₁ and τ₂ are thepropagation delays from TX₁ and TX₂ to a point, P, in space,respectively. If point P is located at the same distance from TX₁ andTX₂, there will be no distortion in the signal, but if τ₁≠τ₂, thereceived signal will be S₁(t−τ₁)+S₂(t−τ₂), which is distorted. Thisconcept is illustrated in FIG. 8a . In another example, FIG. 8b , twocoherent antennas are used to radiate a ramp-modulated impulse train tobore-sight. As shown, the signal is completely distorted innon-bore-sight directions.

A Time-Domain Waveform Sensitive Receiver—

A time-domain waveform sensitive circuitry was designed to enable ahigh-resolution localization sensor that is capable of separating LOSand NLOS waves. As discussed, the technique of directional modulationcan be used to change the time-domain shape of the radiated signal as afunction of angle. By using directional modulation, the time-domainshape of the LOS signal differs significantly from the reflected one.The remaining challenge will be to generate a timing reference from theLOS signal. To increase the accuracy of the timing reference, anonlimiting example of a circuit that extracts zero crossings of the LOSpulse was designed. As shown in FIG. 9a , the LOS signal usually hasmany zero crossings caused by ringing effects. The amplitude of theringing is much smaller than the peak voltage. The time-referencegenerator detects and separates the zero crossings occurred between thepositive and negative peaks from the zero crossings caused by ringing.

The time-reference generator uses a positive-peak detector, anegative-peak detector, and a zero-crossing detector. Initially, thepulse passes through a differential amplifier, one input of which iskept constant at voltage V₁. When the signal reaches this threshold, thedifferential amplifier generates a spike. This spike locks a high-speedlatch, which creates a transition (T₁) for state “0” to state “1”.Similarly, when the signal reaches negative V₂, a spike is generatedthat locks the latch, creating a transition (T₂) form state “1” to state“0”. The pulse is also passed through a series of differentialamplifiers that have one terminal at the zero voltage. Thesedifferential amplifiers have high gain, and the output is a square wave.The signals from all the three blocks in FIG. 9b are passed through ahigh-speed AND gate. The first block's transition signal (T₁) activatesthe AND gate while the second transition signal (T₂) de-activates thegate. This circuit isolates the main zero-crossing of the pulse fromthose generated by the ringing as shown in FIG. 9 c.

Distance Measurement—

To measure the distance, the master chip compares the starting time ofits radiated signal with the arrival time of the LOS signal receivedfrom the slave chip. The time difference is the round-trip time plus thetime elapsed in generating signals in the master and slave nodes. Inorder to measure the round-trip time, the time elapsed in signalgeneration is subtracted from the total time. The ultimate goal is toachieve an accuracy of 1 mm in distance measurement. As notedpreviously, to determine the location of a chip in 3D space, multiplechips are utilized as shown in FIG. 10. The distance measurements frommultiple master chips to each slave chip may be gathered. A firstmeasured distance for a slave chip relative to a first master chip maybe treated as a circle or arc with a first radius around the location ofthe first master chip. Subsequently, a second measured distance for thesame slave chip relative to another master chip may be treated as asecond circle or arc with a second radius around the location of thisother master chip. By determining a point of intersection of the twocircles/arcs, a direction of the slave chip relative to the two masterchips may be determined. In some embodiments, the position of the twomaster chip may be known ahead of time, such as from prior locationcalculations utilizing other chips or a downhole tool.

We can now expand above-mentioned distance/direction process to theentire master-slave topology to map a large fracture. As shown in FIG.11, the entire fracture can be mapped by multi-step process. Forexample, an initial master node's distance and location can bedetermined utilizing a downhole tool. This initial master, shown with acircle, may be behave initially as a master chip to localizes thetriangular slave nodes or chips as discuss previously above.Subsequently, the triangular nodes may behave as master nodes or chipsfor square nodes or chips, thereby allowing the triangular nodes to beutilized to localize the square nodes. Subsequently, the square nodes orchips may behave as master nodes for the diamond nodes or chips, therebyallowing the square nodes to be utilized to localize the diamond nodes.The final result of this distributed localization process is mapping theentire network of wireless chips or the entire fracture.

EXPERIMENTAL EXAMPLE

The following examples are included to demonstrate particular aspects ofthe present disclosure. It should be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill in the art that the methods described in the examples that followmerely represent illustrative embodiments of the disclosure. Those ofordinary skill in the art should, in light of the present disclosure,appreciate that many changes can be made in the specific embodimentsdescribed and still obtain a like or similar result without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

As discussed further below, preliminary calculations/simulationsdemonstrate the feasibility of the proposed frequency-changing method.

Estimation of the Propagation Loss—

Electromagnetic waves are attenuated in a dielectric material, due tothe imaginary part of the complex permittivity. The complex permittivityof a material is frequency dependent, and can be formulated as:ε=ε₀(ε′_(r) −jε″ _(eff))ε=ε₀(ε′_(r) −jε″ _(eff))  (1)where, ε₀=8.86×10−12 F/m, ε′_(r) is the real part of the relativepermittivity, and ε″_(eff) is its imaginary part.The loss tangent of a material is related to real and imaginary parts ofthe permittivity, according to the following equation:

$\begin{matrix}{{\tan\;\delta} = \frac{ɛ_{eff}^{''}}{ɛ_{r}^{\prime}}} & (2)\end{matrix}$Penetration depth, DP, is defined as the distance, where the absorbedelectric field falls to 1/e of the original field. DP is given by

$\begin{matrix}{D_{p} = \frac{c}{2\;\pi\; f\sqrt{2{\epsilon^{\prime}\left\lbrack {\sqrt{1 + {\tan^{2}\delta}} - 1} \right\rbrack}}}} & (3)\end{matrix}$

Based on the measurements reported by others, for shale samples, ε′_(r)varies from 2 to 6 and ε″_(eff) varies from 0.02 to 0.2, depending onfrequency and temperature. In simulations, we calculated the voltagecoupling from a 20 cm dipole antenna located within a well to a 2 mmdipole antenna located at a distance of 10 m deep in the fracture. Thesimulation was done for frequency range 1-100 MHz, ε′_(r)=3, andε″_(eff)=0, 0.03, 0.1, 0.3, 1.

Based on FIG. 12, for ε″_(eff)=0.03, a signal with amplitude of 1V andfrequency of 100 MHz on the transmitting antenna located in the wellgenerates about 90 nV on a 2 mm on-chip dipole antenna located 10 m deepin the fracture. This figure assumes 1V transmitted signal at thedown-hole tool and a distance of 10 m between the down-hole tool and the2 mm dipole. If the amplitude of the transmitter is increased to 1 kV,the induced voltage on the miniaturized antenna will be about 90 μV. Awell-designed, low-noise amplifier based on integrated silicontechnology has an input noise voltage of about 1 nV/√{square root over(Hz)}. This means that, for a bandwidth of 1 Hz, a signal-to-noise ratioof 90,000 can be achieved. By increasing the measurement speed and usinga bandwidth of 100 Hz (1 msec measurement time), a signal-to-noise ratioof 9 can be achieved. If a higher loss is assumed in the formation,ε″_(eff)=0.1, 1 kV voltage at the main transmitter will result in morethan 15 nV on the on-chip dipole. These calculations show that it ispossible to communicate with a single miniaturized chip that is deep inthe fracture. Active chips deep in the formation can also amplifyreceived signals and retransmit it to other chips that are deeper in theformation to act as a relay to extend the effective penetration depth.

Estimation of the Magnetic Field in the Reservoir—

To estimate how much magnetic field can be generated, we can use anapproximation of a long wire carrying current I₀ in the well. Themagnetic field generated by this wire at a distance of Z can becalculated using the following equation:

$\begin{matrix}{{B(z)} = \frac{\mu_{0}I_{0}}{2\;\pi\; Z}} & (4)\end{matrix}$Assuming I₀=1 kA and Z=10 m, the B-field will be B(z)=20 μT. A sensitiveCMOS-based magnetic-field sensor (e.g. a hall sensor) has a sensitivityof 0.1 μT, which is much smaller than 20 μT. This demonstrates thefeasibility of generating a magnetic field in the reservoir anddetecting it using an integrated chip sensor.

Preliminary simulations have been performed to estimate the imageresolution. Based on these simulations, it is possible to achieve aspatial resolution of 10 cm via a linear array of 20 m, steps of 1 m,and 10 frequency points. In this simulation, it was assumed that themain receiver will move in steps of 1 m, from −10 m to 10 m. FIGS.13a-13b shows the results of the simulation demonstrating a spot size of10 cm×10 cm via a linear array of 20 m, steps of 1 m, and 10 frequencypoints around 100 MHz

Experimentation related to the LOS method is discussed further below. Asa non-limiting experimental example, we implemented a coherent array of2×1 transmitting elements that were spaced 1 m apart. Two broadbandantennas, operating in frequency range 3-14 GHz, were designed andfabricated. These two antennas radiated 300 psec amplitude-modulatedimpulses in a coherent fashion. The goal of this experiment was totransmit a ramp-modulated impulse train to the desired direction andmeasure BER as the receiver moved away from the desired direction. FIGS.14a-14b shows the experimental setup and FIGS. 15a-15b shows themeasured results.

As shown in FIGS. 15a-15b , although the 3 dB beam-width of each antennawas larger than 33°, the measured information beam-width was smallerthan 0.5°. To the best of our knowledge, this is the smallestinformation beam-width that has been reported. In this experiment, thedistance between the receivers and transmitter was 2 meters. The 3 dBbeam-width of each antenna was calculated by the following equation:2×tan⁻¹(60 cm/200 cm=33°). The information beam-width was calculated bythis equation: 2×tan⁻¹(0.9 cm/200 cm=0.5°). In this proof-of-conceptexperiment, the amplitude of each impulse was modulated by 2 bits (4levels).

Embodiments described herein are included to demonstrate particularaspects of the present disclosure. It should be appreciated by those ofskill in the art that the embodiments described herein merely representexemplary embodiments of the disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in theart should, in light of the present disclosure, appreciate that manychanges can be made in the specific embodiments described and stillobtain a like or similar result without departing from the spirit andscope of the present disclosure. From the foregoing description, one ofordinary skill in the art can easily ascertain the essentialcharacteristics of this disclosure, and without departing from thespirit and scope thereof, can make various changes and modifications toadapt the disclosure to various usages and conditions. The embodimentsdescribed hereinabove are meant to be illustrative only and should notbe taken as limiting of the scope of the disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for mapping characteristics or featuresof a formation penetrated by a wellbore comprising a first transmitter,a first receiver and a plurality of integrated chips that each comprisea chip receiver, a frequency changer and a chip transmitter, wherein:the first transmitter and first receiver are located in or near thewellbore; the chips are configured to be deployed within the formation;and each chip has been configured to transmit to the first receiver anelectromagnetic field at a frequency that is changed from the incomingelectromagnetic field from the first transmitter.
 2. The system of claim1, wherein the chip further comprises a sensor and wherein attributes ofthe field transmitted from the chip are indicative of the measurementstaken by the sensor.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the sensormeasures at least one of: conductivity, permittivity, magnetic fieldstrength, magnetic field direction, pH, local DC or AC fields,temperature, pressure, fluorescence, and local NMR or ESR fields.
 4. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein the changed attributes are one of amplitude,frequency or modulation thereof.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein atleast part of the wellbore has been cased and wherein at least one ofthe first transmitter and first receiver is located outside the casing.6. The system of claim 1, wherein at least part of the wellbore has beencased and wherein at least one of the first transmitter and firstreceiver is located inside the casing.
 7. The system of claim 1, whereinthe chip further comprises a component for harvesting or storing energyand wherein the energy component receives electromagnetic energytransmitted from the first transmitter and is configured to activate thechip transmitter once sufficient energy has been harvested or stored. 8.The system of claim 2, wherein the chip further comprises a memorycomponent configured to store data from the sensor and wherein thestored data can be transmitted to the first receiver after thetransmission from the first transmitter has ceased.
 9. The system ofclaim 1, wherein a magnitude or phase of a frequency component in thefrequency changes signal is utilized to determine the location ororientation of at least one of the deployed chips.
 10. The system ofclaim 1, further comprising a wellbore transmitter of low frequency orDC magnetic field and wherein the chip-generated signal is a function ofthe detected magnetic field.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein thelocation of the magnetic field transmitter can be changed within thewellbore and wherein the corresponding changes in the chip-generatedsignal can be used to determine the location or orientation of at leastone of the deployed chips.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the chipsare deployed within a fracture within the formation and wherein thereceived frequency-changed signals from a plurality of chips is used tomake a mapping of the fracture.
 13. A method for mapping characteristicsor features of a formation penetrated by a wellbore comprising a firsttransmitter, a first receiver and a plurality of integrated chips thateach comprise a chip receiver, a frequency changer and a chiptransmitter, and comprising the steps of: configuring each chip totransmit an electromagnetic field at a frequency that is changed from anincoming electromagnetic field received by the chip; deploying chipswithin the formation; locating a first transmitter and first receiver inor near the wellbore; transmitting a first electromagnetic field fromthe first transmitter; and receiving a second electromagnetic fieldtransmitted from the chip receiver.
 14. The method of claim 13, whereinthe chip further comprises a sensor and wherein attributes of the fieldtransmitted from the chip are indicative of the measurements taken bythe sensor.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the sensor measures atleast one of: conductivity, permittivity, magnetic field strength,magnetic field direction, pH, local DC or AC fields, temperature,pressure, fluorescence, and local NMR or ESR fields.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the changed attributes are one of amplitude, frequencyor modulation thereof.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein at least partof the wellbore has been cased and wherein at least one of the firsttransmitter and first receiver is located outside the casing.
 18. Themethod of claim 14, wherein at least part of the wellbore has been casedand wherein at least one of the first transmitter and first receiver islocated inside the casing.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the chipfurther comprises a component for storing or harvesting energy andwherein the energy component receives electromagnetic energy transmittedfrom the first transmitter and is configured to activate the chiptransmitter once sufficient energy has been harvested or stored.
 20. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the chip further comprises a memorycomponent configured to store data from the sensor and wherein thestored data can be transmitted to the first receiver after thetransmission from the first transmitter has ceased.
 21. The method ofclaim 14, wherein a magnitude or phase of a frequency component in thefrequency changes signal is utilized to determine the location ororientation of at least one of the deployed chips.
 22. The method ofclaim 14, further comprising a wellbore transmitter of low frequency orDC magnetic field and wherein the chip-generated signal is a function ofthe detected magnetic field.
 23. The method of claim 14, wherein thelocation of the magnetic field transmitter can be changed within thewellbore and wherein the corresponding changes in the chip-generatedsignal can be used to determine the location or orientation of at leastone of the deployed chips.
 24. The method of claim 14, wherein the chipsare deployed within a fracture within the formation and wherein thereceived frequency-changed signals from a plurality of chips is used tomake a mapping of the fracture.